Sunday, 26 January 2014

Happy 40th anniversary, Dungeons & Dragons

Today marks 40 years since D&D, the granddaddy of all roleplaying games was released and became a subsequent sensation. D&D became the forebear of pretty much every computer RPG that's ever existed, so even if they don't know it, gamers around the world have been affected by the amazing work of E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

Like most self-identified tabletop gamers, D&D was the first tabletop roleplaying game I ever got into. At that time 3rd edition had just been released so the assistant in my FLGS pointed me and my friend in that direction. We bought the starter boxed set and wasted no time getting started. We shot back home and began what would become a lifelong fascination - rolling funny dice and laying the smackdown on monsters.

What was once just two of us playing 3rd edition eventually became four of us playing a two year 4th edition campaign, an unforgettable (and often mildly frustrating) experience.

Of course, D&D then led me down the path to other things - the gateway drug of the hobby if you will. Eventually I would start writing my own adventures for games like T&T and creating my very own games.

So here's to Dungeons & Dragons, the game that brings friends together and lets them tell stories about adventure, intrigue and hacking bits of ogres.